Harper men, women top Morton
In a game that saw seven previous lead changes, the eighth was the one that mattered for the Harper's men's basketball team in an 88-75 win over visiting Morton at the Wellness and Sports Center Tuesday night.
During a 17-5 run, Harper (6-1) turned a 4-point deficit into a 73-65 edge with 5:56 to play.
It was started by sophomore guard Perrish Bell (Schaumburg) with first a layup that cut the Morton lead to 60-58 and a subsequent 3 that got Harper the lead for good at 61-60 with 9:22 left.
After the Hawks made 3 of 4 at the foul line, both teams traded buckets before a Shonnon Barfield 3-point play extended the lead to 70-65 with 6:42 left.
Wes Wilcox (Lake Park) scored on a nifty assist from Garrett Gatz to extend the Hawks' edge to 72-65 some 25 seconds later, and then a Kemill Long free throw capped the deciding run.
After that, the visiting Panthers (3-3) got no closer than 6 the rest of the way.
Gatz (Conant) led Harper with 20 points, including 3 threes, Wilcox had 19, Bell added 13, including a pair of threes.
Chris Hicks (Elk Grove) had 11, and Barfield added 10.
Morton was led by 6-foot-4 sophomore forwards Jeffrey Jackson (20 points) and Dionta Moore (17 points).
Harper women win: After suffering back-to-back road losses last week, Harper women's coach Mark Smith had an early objective in Tuesday evening's game versus Morton: Get an inside game going early.
Behind a 25-point, 7-rebound effort from 6-foot sophomore Sarah Kellermeyer (Schaumburg) that included 16 first-half points, the Lady Hawks (3-4) beat visiting Morton 59-34 at the Wellness and Sports Center.
The game was mostly decided by 15-0 run over a five-minute period during the middle of the first-half with Kellermeyer scoring the first 9 points, followed by 3 free throws and a Lizzy Dyrek 3-pointer that gave the hosts a commanding 26-4 advantage with 7:19 left in the opening half.
The lead got as high as 33 in the second half.
Sophomore forward Anna Kirchoff (Barrington) and freshman guard Carly Fisher each chipped in 11 points.
Morton (3-4) was led by sophomore forward Cece Ciesielcyzk's 15 points.